FORT MYERS BEACH, Fla. — Nearly a week has passed since Hurricane Milton swept through Fort Myers Beach, leaving behind significant damage and flooding. Residents are still recovering, and many are comparing it to the recent impacts of Hurricane Helene, which hit just two weeks earlier.
WATCH AS FORT MYERS BEACH COMMUNITY CORRESPONDENT, ANVAR RUZIEV, RETURNED TO SHOW THE AFTERMATH ANOTHER POWERFUL STORM:
While recovery efforts were still ongoing from Helene, Hurricane Milton brought even more devastation.
The storm caused severe flooding, with several feet of storm surge affecting the island. Local resident Carole Newsam shared how the high waters impacted her home.
"Our waterline after Milton," Newsam said, pointing to the damage. Carole lives off Sterling Ave, a street known for its frequent flooding. She believes that nearly every house on her block had water damage.
"After every hurricane sadly we get better at these," she explained, referencing the efforts to prepare homes for the storm. Despite spending days sealing windows and doors, Newsam's home was still flooded.
"Days and days your back hurts, picking up and lugging stuff, sealing your windows, sealing your doors, but then you come home and the muck, it smells," she said, describing the aftermath.
Residents and town workers have been working hard to restore the beach, pushing sand back onto the shore, but Newsam isn’t sure how much longer she can endure the repeated cycle of preparation and recovery.
"It's like the price you pay for paradise," she said. "I don't know if that's a price I want to keep paying, for paradise. I hope this is the last one."
